High Speed Two To Wigan
There has been a lot of speculation about the Northern end of High Speed Two, so I might as well add sort out a few facts and add a bit of speculation of my own.
The Current Wigan North Western Service
I shall look at the 08:30 train to Glasgow on the 20th September 2023.
- It was an eleven-car Class 390 train or Pendolino, which left on time.
- Euston and Wigan North Western are 193.8 miles apart.
- Trains call at only Warrington Bank Quay
- The train passed Crewe at 09:59
- The train called at Warrington Bank Quay at 10:14 and left at 10:15.
- The train arrived at Wigan North Western at 10:25 on time.
- The journey took one hour and 55 minutes
- The average speed was 101.1 mph.
- The Crewe and Wigan North Western section is 35.8 miles and the train is scheduled to take 26 minutes.
- The average speed between Crewe and Wigan North Western is 82.6 mph.
The train slows past Crewe because of the stop at Warrington Bank Quay.
London Euston And Wigan North Western After Phase 2a Of High Speed Two Opens
According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, these are the timings.
- London Euston and Crewe – 56 minutes
- London Euston and Warrington Bank Quay – One hour and 20 minutes
- London Euston and Wigan North Western – One hour and 34 minutes
From these figures and the times of the 08:30, I can deduce these journey times.
- Currently, Crewe and Warrington Bank Quay takes 16 minutes and High Speed Two will take 24 minutes
- Currently, Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western takes 10 minutes and High Speed Two will take 14 minutes
- Currently, Crewe and Wigan North Western takes 26 minutes and High Speed Two will take 38 minutes
I am surprised that sectional timings on this short section of the West Coast Main Line are slower than current timings. Digital signalling and the faster acceleration and deceleration of the new trains, are more likely to decrease times, than increase them.
London Euston And Preston After Phase 2a Of High Speed Two Opens
According to the Wikipedia entry for High Speed Two, these are the timings.
- London Euston and Crewe – 56 minutes
- London Euston and Warrington Bank Quay – One hour and 20 minutes
- London Euston and Wigan North Western – One hour and 34 minutes
- London Euston and Preston – One hour and 18 minutes
This graphic shows High Speed Two services.
Note that Preston gets two non-stop services to and from London and another with stops at Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western, and a train split/join at Crewe.
The one hour and 18 minutes surely applies to one or both of the non-stop services.
140 Mph Running Between Crewe And Preston
Consider.
- London Euston and Crewe is 56 minutes
- One hour and 18 minutes to Preston infers a time of 22 minutes between Crewe and Preston.
- Crewe and Preston is 51 miles.
This implies an average speed of 139 mph.
As the West Coast Main Line was built for 140 mph, when digital signalling was installed, this would appear to be feasible, once the signalling is upgraded.
It may also mean, that faster times are possible in services to Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western.
Consider.
- Crewe and Wigan North Western is 35.8 miles
- High Speed Two will take 38 minutes
- The average speed between Crewe and Wigan North Western will be just 56.5 mph.
But if it could run at 140 mph mph between Crewe and Wigan North Western, the base time would be just over 15 minutes.
To this time must be added two full station stops and the time it takes to split or join.
With the superior acceleration and deceleration of the High Speed Two trains and their level of automation, these operations will not take 23 minutes.
I believe that this means that minutes can be saved on services to Lancaster, Liverpool Lime Street, Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western.
London Euston And Wigan North Western After Phase 2b Of High Speed Two Opens
There will be no changes as the full-size High Speed Two trains are not planned to run to the North of Crewe.
See Also
The Anonymous Widower 